Pre-Prowl 4th pd

Pre-Prowl Check-In

NCA INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS

11/28/22

4th Pd Cohort

Today’s Agenda

Refresher: What are
Instructional Rounds?

Other Best Practices

1

3

Descriptive Observations

Logistics & Schedule

2

4

Multiple Select

REFRESHER: What is the purpose of Instructional Rounds? Choose all that apply.

• To provide individual teachers with affirming and adjusting feedback on their instructional practices.

• To visit the most exemplar classrooms and pick up best practices.

• To gather schoolwide trends and gain a clearer picture of our students' holistic instructional experience.

• To provide a development opportunity for staff members who are interested in becoming Instructional Coaches.

Rounds are a special kind of
walkthrough, unique due to its mixed
grouping of observers and its
non-evaluative nature.
→ Its intention is not to visit only
exemplar classrooms and pick up best
practices, nor is it to provide
feedback to teachers.
→ The ultimate priority is to visit a
variety of classrooms with a specific
lens of a schoolwide instructional
practice and determine what
patterns exist (or don’t) at a larger
scale.

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What are Instructional
Rounds?

PROBLEM OF PRACTICE

P.O.P. Quiz!

What are we investigating

in this round of Panther

Prowl?

Open Ended

Per the Week 14 Blast, what is the Problem of Practice we are investigating during our Panther Prowl?

“Students tend to be reluctant to engage in

independent tasks or practice without
direct guidance from the teacher. Are

students willing to take academic risks or
access learning resources on their own?”

Problem of
Practice

Norming on
Observation
Expectations

Use descriptive and
non-evaluative notes

Ground your observations
in the context of the P.O.P

Talk to students as part
of your data collection

​Circle which observation norm you want to learn more about.

Learning to See

Unlearning to Judge

Descriptive vs
Evaluative

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Directions: Read the text that was linked on the previous slide.

​Thinking Jobs:

--> Why is it crucial that our observations are descriptive and not judgmental/evaluative during this process? ​

​

--> What could make this practice challenging for us as educators?​

​

​

​Here is the text again if you need it!

--> Why is it crucial that our observations are descriptive and not judgmental/evaluative during this process? ​

​

--> What could make this practice challenging for us as educators?​

​

​​

​Turn & Talk:

Draw

Draw a "check" next to each observation statement that is DESCRIPTIVE and an "x" next to each statement that is EVALUATIVE/JUDGMENTAL.

Focus on the P.O.P.!

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Your observations & notes should focus on factors in the

classroom that move us toward answering our

investigation question:

Are students willing to take

academic risks or access learning

resources on their own?

​Our goal is not to document every single thing that occurs...

How will you know
if you’re doing the

work correctly?

What is the class working on

right now?

Tell me about your

assignment.

What are you using to
help you with this task?

What do you do if you’re

stuck?

Student Interviews: Possible Questions

Stay grounded in the P.O.P.

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1) All Prowlers are
clear on where
they need to be and when.

5) 4th Pd teachers

give positive

feedback about
their experience

being visited.

4) Each prowler
has thorough
and relevant

notes to bring to
the After-Prowl

debrief.

2) Prowlers spend
as much time in

all assigned

classrooms as

possible

3) Classes

experience the
least amount of
disturbance as

possible

Prowl Logistics
Let’s do this smoothly & efficiently!

Panther Prowl CFS:

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Schedule

Distribution!

Take note of:
→ Who is in your Prowl group
→ What classes (NOT Teachers)
you are visiting
→ What time you need to be at
your first destination

Next Steps:

→ 4th Pd tomorrow, we are

on the prowl!

→ Bring your notes to

Friday’s Debrief

Thank you!

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